Piston ring



M y v1953 H. M. 01.8% 2,637,607 I PISTON RING Filed June 1'7, 1952 INVENTQR' W ATTQRNEY Patented May 5, 1953 uni-Iran TIISTON RING Holiy Olson, ii Muskegon, AMich, assignor :to zisealedmmwer Generation, Muskcz n,Mich., a

connotation hf Miehigan r1 The present invention relates to rpiston "rings is more particnlarlyconcemed with a novel one piec'e'fspacerand 'expander'made from fiat metal," interposed between upper andlower thin railsinanoilgrooveoi'faniston.

Such oil "grooves have, "at their 'ioott-oms and leading therefrom to the-interior ofthe piston, passages for oil toretu'rn to thecrarikcase oi the engine in whichthe piston is 'vsed, such oil bein scraped "and"otherwiseccoliected from the-walls oft-he cylinden and goes f't'hroug h the oilr'mg in the lowermost :groov'e of the piston, for return to the interi'or' of*thepiston "and to the engine crankcase. "Such oil ringsjheretofore, have "generaIiy' had continnousbottoms rpon which co-rrugateii expanders, located "at the-innerpor-tions :oifthe-oirgroove-laear at spaced'apartpoints, and at intennediatei'pdints against the inner-edges of the steel rails to "force them outwardly.

It has nowfbecom'e quite extensive practice that the 'lowerringgrooves iHajPis'tOIlarB cut entirely through'th'e wallsofthepi'ston except atthe wrist pin bosses or thepistong-the iiing -grooves being completely opembetvveen'rsaid bosses. Withsuch bottomless piston ring groove; the long used carru'gated "thin steel r'ib'bon ei'pander cannot fun-c- It'i'on as"'thereismotliing for it to bear against where it previously has' pressed against theb'de tom oithepiston r'inggroov'e.

My inventioniis directed "to'aa simple, practical and eifectlve'hovel"structure in a single *memher. which serves "the "purposes both of spacing andmaintaining"'spacedthe thin steel rails of 'a piston-"ring, "aiid'i'sdacitihg against said railsat their inner 'cnrvede'dges "to force them-odt a-rdly so that at their outer "edges they bear with the necessary" unit "pressure against the walls of "a cylinder in which installed.

ian'nnders'tandin'gof the invent-ion maybehad 'fr'dmthefoH'owing description-taken in" connection with the accompanying drawing, in which,

iFigi'lisa fragmentaryqplan viewof'a-blank of fiat metal, as "it is "stampeddrom ribbon-stock, and tram the spacer and expander is formed.

Figilziszanedgefviewithereof.

Fig. 3 is.;a fragmentary edge viewxof the completed expander and spacer, formed and shaped .ifrom'the blank shown in Figs 1 and 2.

Fig-4 *is'a fragmentary plan -view of a pisto'n ring, with the upper steel rail removed, showing the relation of the expander and spacer to said rails and also the parting of the expander and spacer at one side thereof.

Fig. 5 illustrates the piston ring with which my invention :is need in: planwiewgwith raiportion zdi ithe nppenst'e e1 rail removed, and

Fig. 6'-is :an enlarged vertical secttonfthrongh apistonat :the lowermost oil groove thereofmthe groove extendingsentirely "through from the :outer to Cthe inner iside-of thepiston and wiith 'ithe assembled :piston ring having th sp'acer -and expa nderof my invention installed with :the upper and lower rails: in such: groove, the planeoof th'e section throughthe"piston irin'gheing substanti'ally' that shownfloy the line i6-r6-:ofiFig.l-fi.

Likeireieren'cecharactersrefer to lik'eipartsl in the difi'ere'nt'figures'o'f thedrawing.

Upperland lowerthinwste'el rails l *eachparted at "onen'side in practice, are iusefd manrpiston rings held spacediromaeach'otherlby a spacing member therebet'ween, has tventing spa s-1 sages for oil to pass therethronghwto thecbottom of the piston ring groove. :ISuchralils in g'enerai are actednpon shy a:.-oor11u'gated thinlsteel zex pander, :alt-erna'te cornugations bearing against the bottom 'o'f the' piston 'ri ngigroovezandiagainst the-rear edges 'of' the rails.

With any invention, :a novel constnuction an spacer is used which al'so acts to exert pressure against the inner edges of the rails, to forcezthem ontwardly. From a 1ength not flat imeta-l, "suineiently' long' to providea complete spacer for the "piston ring, at selected positions in ithe length thereof portions are :cut awayhysuitab-ie clies to leave successive shorter lengths 52 which have portions of the metal =0f"-'the strip cut awayia't each side-edge, so that the body offxthe sections 2 is narrower than the metal'i' i-lobon from which the spacer is-made. Also m idxvayzbetweeni'the 'endsof the sections? still furtherlmetaliisxremoved to make shallow somewhat elongated crecessest, "one at each side oftherseotionZHeas/in'g at each end of"'the narrow intermediate portion wider sections-2a. Also between i th'ezadj'acent ends er eac'h oT the sections 2 opposit'e fd'e'p notches or recesses are-cut. 'Tlrre'wideriporltions '2 'at the on'ter end of each-part 2a,;in'dicatedat "innit, 'remainafter crittingnwaw side edge'cporrecesses mit in opposite sides or the ri-bbon stock leave a c'li agonallly iiisposed'tie 6 which connects thetwoportions 5 =at adjacent'ends and opposed sides of said "sections as shown in Fig. "1. Such *angu'larly disposed-ties 6 'arec-shown a's at an acute-angle to-the length of the ri-bbomstoCkirom which the blank is made.

The blank at each end is formed into a generally hook-like form, having two terminal end portions or sections 1 which will be radially disposed and abut against each other at the parting in the combined spacer and expander (Fig. 4). The blank is subjected to bending and other forming processes by bending the wider portions 2a of the sections 2 in the same direction away from the intermediate narrower or middle portion of the sections, the corrugated form which the device takes being shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. The completed blank is formed into a generally circular form so that the abutting ends I come together.

When thus constructed, one of the thin steel rails I may be located above such device and the other below it in a bottomless groove of a piston 8 (Fig. 6). As assembled with such rails,

the projecting portions 4 and are back of the inner curved edges of the rails. The angularly disposed portions 2a against the edges of which the upper rails I bear, extend outwardly and\the intermediate connecting narrowed portion where the recesses 3 are made are located a short distance inwardly from the outer curved edges of the rails as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. When thus assembled the recesses at 3 furnish passages for oil to go through the ring and thus through the piston for return to the engine crankcase. Also oil will pass through the recesses at the sides of ties 6. When the assembled ring, having the spacer and expander of my invention, is installed in a cylinder, the circumferential dimension of the expander and spacer is such that in order to be installed the rails are substantially closed at their partfngs and the expander and spacer has the two abutments I come against each other and the expander and spacer is circumferentially compressed. The yield at the connecting ties 6 permits circumferential compression.

Because of the force generated by such circumferential compression, the expander and spacer member tending to return to its greater or normal circumferential dimension, bring the projections 4 and 5 against the inner edges of both rails, pushing them outwardly and causing them to bear with pressure against a cylinder wall.

There is thus provided a three-part oil ring, having the usual u per and lower rails and with a spacer between them, serving to exert the necessary force against the edges of the rails previously supplied by the fourth member of such type of oil rings, the corrugated thin metal tempered steel expander which is eliminated by use of my invention.

It is of course to be understood that minor variations in detail may be resorted to without departing from my invention. particularly in conjunction with the ties 6 which are not restricted to the exact form shown but may in many ways be varied so long as they exert an expanding force which is generated upon circumferential compression of the expander and spacer member. It is also apparent that, in addition to the vent passages made by the recesses 3, there are vent passages at the opposite sides of such ties 6 in the expander and spacer member when it is installed with the rails in a piston as shown in Fig. 6. A novel, practical, simpler and easier installed oil ring is provided by the construction which is shown and which is defined in the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. A spacer and expander piston ring element comprising, a parted, generally circular corrugated member of flat metal having alternate inner and outer corrugations integrally connected, each of said outer corrugations having an outer side adapted to extend vertically between two spaced rails, and each of said inner corrugations, having an inner side with end portions wider than the distance between the adjacent sides, said two rails, and a tie connection between said end portions resistingly yieldable in the direction of the circumference of said element, said element having abutments at the ends thereof at its parting adapted to bear against each other, whereby said element may be circumferentially compressed to smaller circumferential length.

2. A structure as described comprising, a parted generally circular corrugated member of flat ribbon, metallic, resistingly yieldable ,material adapted to be positioned between two generally horizontal thin, parted. metallic, generally flat rails and hold them in spaced relation, having alternate outwardly and inwardly extended corrugations, each of the first mentioned corrugations having a flat generally vertically positioned outer side, narrower in width than the distance between the inner sides of said rails which are adapted to bear against the edges thereof, the second mentioned corrugations each having an inner side having end sections of a width greater than the distance between the adjacent sides of said rails, whereby said end sections are adapted to be located against the inner edges of said rails, and a narrow, integral tie connecting said end sections extending from one end section at one edge of the corrugated member to the other end section at the opposite edge of said member, said corrugated member at each of its ends, at the parting therein, having an abutment with generally radially position sides adapted to bear against each other.

3. A piston ring spacer and expander element adapted to space and press outwardly two spaced thin metallic rails comprising,

a continuous length of flat metal yieldingly resistantito strain thereon, having a generally circular form and meeting ends abutting against each other, said length of metal having a plurality of successive sections, each comprising an intermediate portion of generally rectangular form and end portions at'each end of the .intermediate portion located at an angle thereto and extending generally in the same direction therefrom, and tie portions generally parallel to and spaced from the curved plane of said intermediate portions, each tie portion comprising ends of greater width than the said intermediate and end portions, and yielding ties connecting said ends, yieldingl resist ng movement of said ends toward each other on circumferential compression to less than normal circumference of said ele-- ment.

HOLLY M. OLSON.

References Cited in the file or this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

